{"id":603,"date":"2009-03-05T10:09:25","date_gmt":"2009-03-05T10:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/treeleafzen\/2009\/03\/when-the-teacher-gets-stressed.html"},"modified":"2009-03-05T10:09:25","modified_gmt":"2009-03-05T10:09:25","slug":"when-the-teacher-gets-stressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/03\/when-the-teacher-gets-stressed.html","title":{"rendered":"When the “Teacher” gets stressed …"},"content":{"rendered":"

There will be no video today for technical reasons (rather stressful!), so I would like to post a little essay I wrote that continues our theme from last week … on how “Zen teachers” sometimes get out on the wrong side of the bed too …<\/b><\/p>\n

_____________________<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

I am never one to say to folks that Buddhism or Zen practice is
\nsupposed to turn us into emotional robots, cold stones, or to make life
\na perpetual valium trip in ‘Candy Land’. (Some forms of Buddhism do
\nemphasize extinguishing many human passions and emotions, and that may
\nbe a wonderful path, but I never found that very attractive or
\npractical in my own life). I believe that, so long as we have these
\nhuman bodies, we will get “stressed out” sometimes. <\/p>\n

I like my
\npractice because it allows me to savor the human condition, the ups and
\ndowns, while seeing through the situation (although sometimes that
\ntakes time, as one can be blinded in the “heat of the moment”). Zen
\npractice allows me to much more easily recover my balance (when I fall
\noff life’s bicycle). I can usually keep my stillness and “center” and
\navoid the wild extremes. I want to be a good and gentle human being,,
\neasy on myself and others … but a human being I will remain. I
\nbelieve that Buddhism smooths out the ups and downs, and allows us more
\ncontrol over the ups and downs … but that the ups and downs will
\nalways be part of life’s ride. Anyway, they are a part of my life.<\/p>\n

We
\ncan see through the “self”, drop many aspects of having a mortal
\n“self”, soften or fully escape much of the friction when our “self”
\nbumps into all the other “selfs” of the world … but, so long as we
\nare alive, we are a poor little “self”.<\/p>\n

In fact (can I say this as a Buddhist??), I even like<\/span> my silly “self”.<\/p>\n

My
\nwife and a couple of people mentioned to me today that I was being
\nshort and “snarky” (sarcastic and impatient) in talking to people. I
\nrealized that my wife is right, and I am still affected by a number of
\nthings, ranging from family and work issues, my teacher’s health
\ncondition (he is 90 years old and not himself) to a Japanese driver’s
\nlicense test I failed (man, they make it hard to renew a license
\nhere!). It is a bit of stress, and I am acting out.<\/p>\n

I believe
\nthat our human brains are built to handle stress (and some other
\nsometimes aggressive or defensive emotions) in very primitive ways. We
\nare still “Ug the Caveman<\/span>” deep
\ndown. Our Buddhist practice let’s us tame our “inner caveman” before he
\ndoes his worst, although he is always sitting there ready to grab his
\nclub!<\/p>\n

Anyway, I like to be the “teacher” in my Sangha because I
\nam just a foolish, imperfect middle-aged man … husband and father …
\nwho thinks this practice makes him a significantly better and wiser
\n(but often foolish) man. It is “okay” to feel stressed, worried, sad or
\n“snarky” sometimes.<\/p>\n

However, what you do with your “caveman” when that happens makes the all the difference in the world. I think.<\/div>\n

Gassho, Jundo (the perfectly imperfect) Cohen<\/p>\n

All evil karma ever committed by me since of old,<\/p>\n

On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,<\/p>\n

Born of my body, speech, and thought,<\/p>\n

Now I atone for it all<\/span>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There will be no video today for technical reasons (rather stressful!), so I would like to post a little essay I wrote that continues our theme from last week … on how “Zen teachers” sometimes get out on the wrong side of the bed too … _____________________ I am never one to say to folks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guided-meditation","category-meditation-techniques","category-zen-buddhist-meditation"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen the "Teacher" gets stressed ... - Treeleaf Zen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/treeleafzen\/2009\/03\/when-the-teacher-gets-stressed.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the "Teacher" gets stressed ... - 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